Feelings of children when witnessing parents' illness

Abstract

This study aimed to learn the experiences of children who witness their parents' illness due to cancer. This is a descriptive, qualitative study, with six children between 10 and 12 years of age, children of cancer patients assisted by a support institution. The data were collected from July to August 2015, based on the guiding question:    "How do you feel about your father/mother's illness?" From the analysis, two categories emerged: Recognizing the disease and the possibility of the parents 'death and, Growing as a child and living as an adult: the repercussions of parents with cancer in their children's lives, which reveal that children understand cancer and the possibility of death of their parents, being also affected by the disease. By experiencing the fears and repercussions of cancer, children need assistance by the family and health team during their parents' illness.